Law Commons^™

Standardized Testing And Race: A Reply To Professor Subotnik, Harvey Gilmore

Harvey Gilmore

Professor Gilmore responds in disagreement to Professor Subotnik's article supporting standardized testing.

New York's Taxable Lap Dancing...At A Strip Club Near You!

Harvey Gilmore

In today’s difficult economic times, state gov-ernments are more hard pressed than ever to come up with new sources of revenue to at least stay reve-nue neutral. Leave it to the perpetually money-hun-gry State of New York to come up with this gem of an idea for generating tax revenues: In 2005, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance at-tempted to impose sales tax on a nightclub’s offering of exotic dancing to its customers. This resulted in the matter of 677 New Loudon Corp. v. State of New York Tax Appeals Tribunal, ultimately decided by the New York …

Defending The Law Review - A Response To Judge Posner & Professor Lindgren, Harvey Gilmore

Harvey Gilmore

I am fairly new to the publication game. I am not a professional writer. I was never a law review editor. My current teaching job does not mandate that I “publish or perish.” On top of that, I do believe that law reviews were invaluable to me in helping me write research papers during my time in law school. I enjoy reading law review articles to this day. In addition, I have enjoyed the privilege of having several of my own pieces accepted for publication as law review articles. Consequently, I have had positive experiences dealing with law review editors …

After Ten Years, Sarbanes-Oxley Might Be Statutory Overkill

Harvey Gilmore

The start of the twenty first century brought with it some spectacular corporate accounting scandals: Enron, World-Com, Adelphia, and Tyco, to name a few. The subsequent congressional hearings investigating the accounting and ethical failures of these companies resulted in a parade of one corporate executive after another claiming they had no knowledge of the massive fraud in their firms. In response to this rapid-fire succession of corporate scandals, Congress enacted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“SOX”). It is a statute first introduced by Senator Paul Sarbanes and Congressman Michael Oxley, and signed into law by President George W. Bush in …

Misadventures Of A Law School Misfit

Harvey Gilmore

If the brilliant, legendary playwright Rod Serling were still with us, he might have described a law school graduate’s credentials something like this—consider if you will, the law school graduate’s perfect resume: 1) graduated first in his class from “Ivy League University”; 2) graduated first in his class from “Ivy League Law School”; 3) law review editor; and 4) elevation to Big-Firm partnership.

Well, that ain’t me. I was never a law review editor. I did not graduate in the top ten percent of my class. I did not go to an Ivy League college or law school. I never …

When We Lie To The Government, It's A Crime, But When The Government Lies To Us, It's...Constitutional?, Harvey Gilmore

Harvey Gilmore

“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” To put it another way, don’t lie. Unfortunately, human history is littered with innumerable examples of people who have disregarded that rather simple requirement of honesty. Little kids lie (“I didn’t break the vase, Mommy!”). Corporate executives lie. Lawyers lie. Accounting Firms lie. Politicians lie. Police Officers lie. Even Presidents lie.

Law School Grades - Flunked Out, But Did Not Really Fail

Harvey Gilmore

If the plaintiffs in a most interesting, recent lawsuit ultimately get their way, I will need to change the title of this article. After the Spring 2011 semester, plaintiffs Jonathan Chan and Karla Ford were dismissed from their former law school, Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law (Texas Southern) for academic deficiency, failing to maintain an overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0. On February 2, 2012, in response to their dismissal, Chan and Ford filed a lawsuit against Texas Southern, along with their Contracts professor, Shelley Smith. In this article, I will look at some …

Has Garcetti Destroyed Academic Freedom?

Harvey Gilmore

The case of Garcetti v. Ceballos, decided by the United States Supreme Court in 2006, established that a public employee’s job related communications are not protected by the First Amendment. The Court also held that an employer has the right to impose disciplinary sanctions against that employee based on those job related communications. Although the Court specifically did not address how its decision would affect public university professors in the future, Garcetti has already alarmed academicians who believe in the concept of academic freedom. College professors, especially those who teach in research institutions, are now concerned that the Garcetti decision …

This Is Not A Symposium On How To Commit Fraud, But If It Were..., Harvey Gilmore

Harvey Gilmore

We know the names: Bernard Madoff, Kenneth Lay, Jeffrey Skilling, Andrew Fastow, Dennis Kozlowski, Phillip R. Bennett, and Bernard Ebbers. These are but a few of the biggest corporate thieves in recent memory. Similarly, the names of certain corporations will also conjure up lasting images of massive corporate frauds: Enron, World-Com, Tyco, Adelphia, Refco, Global Crossing, and Sunbeam, again, to name just a few. The most disquieting aspect of all these financial frauds really isn’t the massive amounts of money that was looted from the victimized companies. Instead, the truly unnerving fact regarding most financial frauds is that they are …

Major League Baseball And The Antitrust Rules: Where Are We Now?, Harvey Gilmore

Harvey Gilmore

This essay will attempt to look into the history of professional baseball’s antitrust exemption, which has forever been a source of controversy between players and owners. This essay will trace the genesis of the exemption, its evolution through the years, and come to the conclusion that the exemption will go on ad infinitum.

To Failure And Back: How Law Rescued Me From The Depths, Harvey Gilmore

Harvey Gilmore

This Article considers some of the reasons that attorneys have an overly acute sense of frustration with their chosen profession. It also takes a periodic look at some of the same struggles I went through as a member of the accounting profession. Ironically, while some attorneys look at their journey through law as their ticket to the depths of professional hell, it was my own journey through law that ultimately rescued me from my own professional hell. Next, this Article examines some career-changing (and life-altering) decisions, which can ultimately lead to a more rewarding life and career. Finally, I offer …